Yes, but they would have to let each other win an argument occasionally. Properly win it. Without going behind the other person’s back afterwards or quietly arranging things so the answer changes.

That is the sticking point for Eddie and Susie in The Gentlemen. They like having a capable partner. They enjoy being understood. Handing that partner enough freedom to make a decision they dislike is where it all gets uncomfortable.

They could keep their power and build something solid together. What they would have to give up is the expectation that they can always get their own way. For these two, that might be the harder sacrifice.

They Already Trust Each Other With Quite a Lot

It is easy to look at the secrets and conclude that the whole relationship is held together by good tailoring and suspicious eye contact. There is rather a lot of both.

But Eddie and Susie do have something substantial between them. Each can keep up with the other. They can have a conversation without spending half of it explaining why the person shouting loudest in the room is probably about to cause a problem.

After enough time around Freddy, that must feel like a holiday.

Theo James and Kaya Scodelario make that shared competence enjoyable to watch. Eddie listens with the expression of a man deciding how much trouble a suggestion will cause him. Susie often looks as though she has already worked through his objections and would appreciate it if he caught up.

There is affection in their impatience. You can be irritated by someone and still be relieved when they walk into the room.

They trust each other to be useful. They are much less comfortable being dependent.

Eddie Can Make Entitlement Sound Very Reasonable

Eddie has plenty of understandable reasons to want control. His family home is tied to a criminal business. Other people know things about his own circumstances that he has to ask them to explain. Anyone would resent that.

Still, there is something faintly funny about how quickly he expects to have a meaningful say in an operation Susie already knows how to run.

James gives him such calm delivery that you can almost miss the cheek of it. Eddie rarely needs to announce that he considers himself leadership material. He carries that assumption into the room with his coat.

It suits him. It would also be exhausting to work with.

From Susie’s side, she is dealing with a man who learns quickly and then wants the freedom of someone who has been doing the job for years. She has to decide when he has spotted a genuine opportunity and when he is enjoying the sound of his own confidence.

Eddie needs to acknowledge that she has earned her authority. Sometimes her answer deserves to stand even when he can imagine a more exciting one.

But she has to give him an honest answer in the first place. Keep someone guessing long enough and they start finding their own sources of information. Then everyone gets offended by the secrecy they helped create.

Susie Wants a Partner She Can Still Manage

Susie’s control is part of her appeal. Scodelario can make a small pause feel distinctly unwelcoming. She gives the impression that Susie is choosing her words carefully because the first version would have been much less polite.

I like that the character gets to be difficult. She has responsibilities. She has experience. Eddie being handsome and unexpectedly good at the work should hardly entitle him to rearrange her life.

Yet she also seems drawn to the very qualities that make him hard to manage.

She enjoys his initiative until it takes him somewhere she would rather he stayed away from. His nerve becomes more troublesome when he uses it with her. You cannot keep encouraging someone to think for himself and then be amazed when he arrives at an inconvenient thought.

That is where Susie has to make a choice.

If she wants a partner, she will sometimes have to hear about a decision before she has worked out how to influence it. She will have to take a risk on his judgment while knowing perfectly well that he might get it wrong.

Eddie owes her the same courtesy. Her caution deserves better than being treated as an obstacle he can charm his way around.

Neither seems especially practised at this. They are both much better at looking composed while quietly taking offence.

Her Father Makes Everything Harder

Any agreement with Susie comes with the awkward question of Bobby Glass.

Eddie can reach an understanding with her and still have reason to wonder how much of it will survive her father’s wishes. Susie can make a decision she considers sensible and find herself caught between Eddie’s resentment and Bobby’s expectations.

That is a rotten position for a partnership to occupy.

It also gives Eddie a tempting escape route. If Susie refuses something, there is another person whose approval might matter more. Going around her may solve his immediate problem. She is likely to remember the journey.

And rightly so. Imagine trying to establish yourself as someone’s equal while they reserve the option of taking a disagreement to your dad.

Susie needs authority she can actually exercise. Eddie needs to know what she can promise him. Until those things are clear, they will keep having arguments that are partly about Bobby even when his name never comes up.

Their relationship already has enough people trying to steer it. They could do with closing the door occasionally.

The Chemistry Lets Them Avoid a Few Conversations

Of course there is chemistry. The show knows exactly what it is doing when it leaves these two looking at each other a moment longer than necessary.

Their attraction has an enjoyable edge because you can rarely separate interest from assessment. Sometimes Susie seems amused by Eddie. Sometimes she seems to be deciding whether he has become a liability. The expressions sit surprisingly close together.

But chemistry can make a strained relationship feel further along than it is.

A charged glance gives the audience something lovely to chew on. Eddie still needs to tell her what he is planning. Susie still needs to explain what she has kept from him. They could spend an entire evening flirting and wake up with precisely the same business problem.

I would rather see them have one properly uncomfortable conversation than another moment where danger conveniently brings them back together.

Let Eddie admit that he wants more. Let Susie say which parts of that ambition worry her. Give them enough time to be annoyed by the answers.

Someone Has to Stop Keeping Score

The most believable version of trust between Eddie and Susie would still involve suspicion. They know too much about each other to become wonderfully relaxed overnight.

But they could stop treating every concession as something to recover later.

Eddie could accept Susie’s judgment without needing his next decision to prove his independence. Susie could let him take the lead without looking for an early opportunity to remind him who taught him the business.

That would change the feel of the relationship. They could disagree without making the whole partnership feel temporarily up for sale.

It would also give their loyalty some weight. Choosing to stand beside someone means more when you have room to walk away.

So yes, they can trust each other and remain powerful. I think they would be better at the work if they did. They already spend enough energy anticipating each other’s next move.

The real test will come on a fairly ordinary day, when one of them says no and the other has the means to get around it. If they can leave that answer alone, they might finally be getting somewhere.